Structural reinforcement: an application example on buildings made of tuff subject to constraints

Most of the existing buildings in the historic centers of European cities are made of ordinary brick or stone masonry.

Depending on the size and shape of the elements, their origin, the type of block, and the quality of the mortar, various masonry patterns can be found.

These buildings often have multiple layers of masonry, with or without effective connections between them.

During seismic events, vertical walls are subjected to high horizontal actions in-plane (shear) and out-of-plane (flexure).

The shear strength of the masonry walls in existing buildings is therefore quite limited, so the earthquake resistance capacity is inherently linked to the collapse due to shear of the masonry units and the floor bands